19 Nov 2012: Rubio's Young Earth Fantasies

Marco Rubio has made a bit of a stir with comments about his young earth belief. It isn't so much the beliefs; they are standard fair in the conservative movement. What is most appalling is his relativistic statement in support of these beliefs, "At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all." If I didn't know what he was thinking, I would yield the point. The truth is there are different theories and I think it is a great idea teach them all. But I'm talking about actual scientific theories and this is not what Rubio is talking about. He wants the Genesis myth to be taught as science.

I'm not kidding about this. He goes on to say, "I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries." No. It isn't one of the great mysteries. The earth was not created in 7 days and I don't know what an "actual era" is. These are the words of a man who can not back up his beliefs. His religion tells him that the universe is not the way we know it to be so he claims that we should teach "all sides of it": the side that's true and the fantasy he wants to believe. This isn't even handed. This is simple distortion of the truth.

Rubio added, "And for me, personally, I don't want a school system that teaches kids that what they're learning at home is wrong."

Rubio, a Cuban-American, made a comparison to the strategy employed by the Communist Party in Cuba where schools encouraged children to turn in parents who criticized Fidel Castro.

"Of course, I'm not equating the evolution people with Fidel Castro," he quickly added, while noting that undermining the family and the church were key means the Communist Party used to gain control in Cuba.

What I find most offensive about these words is how they fit into the context of my lifetime here in the United States. There is only one party that ever acted in this way. It was the Republican Party under Reagan and Bush that encouraged children to turn their parents in for drug use and dealing. I remember Bush praising a grammar school child for having turned her cocaine dealing parents into the police. So to have a Republican claim that teaching evolution is somehow going to turn children against their parents when his own party worked to do that very thing in the name of their useless Drug War makes my blood boil.

It would be nice to think that anyone as delusional as Rubio couldn't become president. But we know that isn't the case. Well over half the people of the United States believe the same disproven rubbish that he spouts. There really are facts in the world, however. But the modern Republican Party will have none of it. And as we know from Charles Krauthammer, the only thing the Republicans need to change about themselves is to be a little less vile regarding Latinos. So don't be surprised if roughly 50% of the country votes for a Cuban young earth proponent in 2016.